A portrait of a community where isolation and loneliness are the norm showing how the togetherness and camaraderie of a small town is only superficial. It made me think of the current Covid times and how people are suffering in their own houses and apartments. What mental health shocks are in store for our society?
George Willard does well to survive Winesburg and head for the big city and I hope Helen White follows him.
The descriptions of the town and the surroundings in each of these vignettes is a classic case of providing enough information at the right time in a book. I’m not sure if a map would have helped, but probably wouldn’t as I was content to know where each house and street was in rough approximation to others mentioned in different stories.
It was a great idea to have a one character as a common thread in the stories and to have him leave Winesburg just as we finish the book. Both George and myself left Winesburg at the same time!
This was a book I’d seen many times over the years, but only recently did I decide to buy the book and I’m so glad I did.
Julian Worker Fiction Writing 